Well, the factory manual indicates that the transmission mounts should be +/- 0.5mm, but that should only affect the fitment of the transmission mount - so if that fits, I won't worry about that tolerance. The suspension mounts can be +/- 2mm from eachother, so I'm barely within tolerance there. I think I'm just going to make do with what I have. For now, I set that aside and spent some of my time off tidying up the passenger footwell / smuggler box rust complex.
I hate using the sand blaster, but it is hard to argue with the results. I was lucky enough to have a warm day, so I put some primer down, to make it a little easier to shoot the hard to reach places, before putting the new panels in.
I made sure that all the hand-made panels fit together. It has been a while since I've done CAD work, but could sense that I probably deserved an 'over-constrained error' for using this many clamps. I didn't take a photo, but I also used some sheet metal screws to make sure the curved flange was well-seated above the suspension / steering rack mount.
Smuggler's box structurally sound. I'll come back and tidy it up a bit once it is warm enough to paint again.
I got the footwell in in 2 pieces, rather than waste metal making another attempt to make a single piece that fit. Those paying close attention may notice other new metal, but that'll be covered in the next post.
The bead roller has been instrumental in getting these sorts of bends right on the first try. It's really surprising how easy this part of the process is. It's just a small piece, but it is so satisfying to nail it in a few minutes - just set the lines and get the initial curve by making a few passes with the urethane tool on the bead roller, hammer it to 90 degrees, then straighten it out with the shrinker / stretcher.
Same process for the next patch:
